We are developing a software interface for performing 4D microscopy with the Leica DM-RXA microscope. The Leica DM-RXA is a fully computer-controlled light microscope. This project will proceed in two parts. First, we intend to develop both a C-based stand-alone and an NIH-lmage dependent software interface to allow the DM-RXA microscope to function in the collection of 3-dimensional time-lapse (4-D) data sets using high-resolution Nomarski DIC optics. This includes the orchestration of illumination shutters, stage motors and digitizing video framegrabbers from a Macintosh PPC computer. Stage two will investigate the possibility of gathering simultaneous (or nearly simultaneous) DIC and fluorescent 4D data sets from the same sample. The bulk of this project will involve Charles Thomas writing, testing and debugging computer code as well as doing real-world testing of data collection using the Leica DM-RXA microscope itself. Dr. Fleischmann will then be involved in testing the software and developing biological applications for it in his lab in Switzerland.